Basho visited this Zen temple on his Narrow Road to the Far North journey in order to look at the remains of the retreat hut where his Zen teacher, Butcho, once lived. I crossed the same river he did and marveled at the impressive stillness surrounding the temple that was hovering above me:

The gardens surrounding the temple were filled with bright pink cosmos. A young, shaven-headed boy came out of nowhere to greet a car that appeared from nowhere. A monk got out, and then headed up the hill after bowing deeply to the retreating car. I followed them and peeked into a wooden chapel they had entered. Hanging in the altar space was a scroll of writing with a lively colored ink painting of two figures. Not wanting to intrude, I wandered about the grounds, admiring the serenity. But curiosity brought me back to the chapel. Everyone had left. I stared at the painting. Could it be? Yes, they were the famous Chinese mountain hermits, Han-shan, the "cold mountain" poet, and his companion Shih-te! Han-shan's poems were included in the central texts of Zen Buddhism, "The Transmission of the Lamp" and "The Blue Cliff Record." But the wild hair painted on each figure was a giveaway.

 

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Artwork, "Ugan-ji" by D. W. Bender